Jeremiah Tipton argues that small compromises—a bit of social media, casual drinking, fleeting desires—are never harmless. They feel controlled but grow quietly, letting cravings dominate your spiritual life. Real faith means character work, not just the appearance of it.
You may be saying to yourself, it's just a little bit of scrolling on social media. It's just a little look at that photo or that video. It's just a little drink of this or that. It's just a little taste of what I desire. After all, it's not necessarily a big problem yet. I got this under control. I can handle this. I'm not gonna let this become too big of a problem, or eventually I'll deal with this. There's no urgency to take care of these things. And so as you begin to make progress in your walk with the Lord, if you don't take care of what you think is a need, it's actually a sinful craving, then that problem will grow. Now, when I talk about progress, of course, I'm not talking about reading the word, praying, those things weaken the flesh. I'm just talking about what we do for God. What you do for God can succeed even while you're struggling. And that's a dangerous thing. And that's not what you want. You want your character to grow with your calling.
